Goodness knows I'm no champion of Diane by any stretch of the imagination, but it can't be argued that she was the best choice to lead the group for the kind of crossover success which Gordy envisioned. In addition, she had the obsessive drive to push herself tirelessly to get to the top, no matter what it took [[and, sadly, no matter who might get trampled in the process). But, as they say, that's showbiz. HDH must be credited for how they were able to tailor material brilliantly to her reedy voice to maximum effect. Mary and Florence were indispensable in making the group unique, however. Someone once termed The Supremes as being slick [[Diane), sexy [[Mary), and Sassy [[Flo), and that interplay was essential. Diane as a solo could not have managed it, nor could Mary or Flo, either, for that matter. It's regrettable [[nay, almost criminal) that the latter two were eventually so underutilized. It was my opinion, then and now, that, while Diane was the best choice to lead the group on the singles, no contest, Mary and Flo ought to have been allowed plenty of leads on albums and especially in live performance, rather the just the occasional one-off. This would not have hampered Diane's success one bit, but that wasn't the plan as Diane and Berry saw it, and, for better or for worse, they were in charge.